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about the craft and business of fictionTue, 03 Mar 2015 22:35:52 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1Comment on How Does Your Novel Grow? The Writing/Gardening Connection by Katrina Kittlehttp://writerunboxed.com/2015/03/03/how-does-your-novel-grow-the-writinggardening-connection/comment-page-1/#comment-566972
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:35:52 +0000http://writerunboxed.com/?p=35959#comment-566972Amen, Rita–we are dreamers. More snow is on the way here…but I have faith! :-)

Many writer are also gardeners. I think that’s because in order to either write or

garden you have to be a dreamer. Plant a minuscule seed in a peat pot when the

snow lies thick on the ground, take a fledgling idea and believe you can spin it into

a thick, juicy novel–both these acts require faith, perseverance, and the ability to

envision an imaginary future. Winter is the ideal season for this kind of dreaming,

so bring on the snow! (But not for too long. We also need to see the hopeful signs

of our dreams sprouting into life.)

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]]>Comment on How Does Your Novel Grow? The Writing/Gardening Connection by David Corbetthttp://writerunboxed.com/2015/03/03/how-does-your-novel-grow-the-writinggardening-connection/comment-page-1/#comment-566964
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 20:55:28 +0000http://writerunboxed.com/?p=35959#comment-566964Hi Katrina:

Wise piece. And beautifully written.

As to how my writing feeds other areas of my life: I have an essay in an anthology titled FAITH that just came out (other contributors include Caroline Leavitt, Pam Houston, Anne Perry, etc.). In my piece I mention how, after the deaths of my brother and first wife, I was in desperate need for some idea of how to live my life. I’d discarded my faith like a coat I realized wasn’t up to the weather, but realized I still need some reason to get up and go about my day.

I ended up taking a cue from my characters. I knew that in every story, in one way or another, the protagonist (and other characters, depending) is striving, whether he knows it or not, to become just a little braver, more honest, more loving. If true of my characters, I thought, why not me?

And that’s how I devised the simple practice I try to live by. I try each day to follow the same example I’ve set for my characters. The simplicity helps — I find just keeping those three simple virtues in mind, and trying to live up to them, keeps me plenty busy.

Kind of like my garden.

Thanks for the lovely post.

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]]>Comment on Musings on Genres, Shame, and Why Can’t We All Just Get Along? by Barry Knisterhttp://writerunboxed.com/2015/03/01/musings-on-genres-shame-and-why-cant-we-all-just-get-along/comment-page-1/#comment-566963
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 20:48:53 +0000http://writerunboxed.com/?p=35899#comment-566963Jeanne–
After lots of ultimately pointless hand-ringing over this issue, I’ve decided to rely on the “suspense” designation/genre/category. Except in cases where style is all, no novel can hold readers without some form of suspense. Where is this thing going? What will happen next to the characters? How does all this shake out in the end? Those are the questions that I hope my readers ask as they turn the pages.